welcome back to al jazerra america i am david shuster in new york. ottawa remains under lock down at this hour, some four hours after shots first range out at the rang out at the war them yell or where a gunman opened fired on a soldier standing guard, the gunman stole a vehicle and drove it up to the parliament building and shot his way in there, there were reports of 30 or 40 shots exchangeed with security there. reports that the gunman has been killed, also reports that the soldier that was standing guard has been pronounced dead.

what has everybody in such great anxiety at ottawa this hour is reports of shootings in other locations and ottawa police saying they are still look out for other suspects, they are stopping cars trying to go to quebec. they have asked the public to stay signed, schools are on lock down and police going door by door downtown in a search effort. a manhunt for additional suspects. this has been remark for people there. you can see the pictures. people are standing by, the rcpm has injuries difference. and we expect them to clarify whether or not there were shootings at more than the would occasions we mentioned the war memorial and the center block of parliament whether in facts there was a shooting at the

shoot toe thole nearby and at the rideau certainty which is a nearby shopping mall or whether those were false reports, simply transmit today police because people heard the shots from the national war memorial and got confused, canada's national newspaper the globe and mail was able to get inside the parliament in ottawa after the gunman had fired the shots at the war o memorial and then droe to the parliament building and exchanged shots with the gunman and here is what it looked like. [ gunshots ]

gripping images from the globe and mail canada's largest newspaper. again reports that the gunman was killed in the parliament building by the sergeant of arms who is tasked with responsibility for essentially safeguarding the building. and, again, we are waiting for a news conference from the royal made vinnie mounted police who are expected to update the public at any time now. we will bring it to you live. in the meantime joining us is al jazerra's ali velshi, the host of "real money." as we all wait for this press conference. if you were there what would you be looking for in terms of information that we though clarify. what information will you be looking for in terms of coming from the royal canadian mounted

police. >> three things first of all, is the situation contained, anymore gunfire do they believe there are anymore active shooters out there. as you know, we have had all sorts of reports. we have had reports of several shoot and goes what a lot of the media are reporting as three shooting locations we know that the center block of parliament was one shooting location, we have word that the gunman there was killed by the sergeant of arms. we know that i soldier has died, he was shot by the gunman at the war memorial. so we have two shooting locations there. and we have report about the famous hotel next to parliament where i stayed 10 days ago and the shopping center across the report and in between the hotel and the mall is the u.s. embassy also on lock down.

the ready center has said there was no shooting inside the rideau center but they have been asked by police to lock down and so nobody goes in and out of there. the hotel says no shooting there. we need to end the confusion, do they believe that there are other active gunmen. or is the one shot and killed it. that's number one. number two who is the nexus to terrorism. this is why the state department has been involved. personal has spoken to prime minister harper in ottawa. they have spoken by phone, we need to understand whether this is terrorist or something else, nobody three, the prime minister who has nonnow been moved way from parliament hill, prime minister stephen harper. julien pass the long-time chief of the toronto police, the toronto police force is one of the biggest police forces on the entire continent being it's by par the big nest canada about an

8,000-strong police force, the bottom line there is no better policeing in canada than there is around parliament hill at the moment. it is the headquarters of the canadian military, full of soldiers and police force and government minister head of one of the large of police forces so we should be getting good information out of ottawa. there is a lot of information out the ottawa because of the cameras positioned around the place. it's an easy place to control, it's a government place, nobody is moving around so if somebody is walking around with a rival or shotgun they should be lies identified. we need an update as to what is the situation think i just spoke to a member of parliament who is still in their office and has not been cleared from lock down. we have been hearing from globe and mail reporters saying that they are still being told to remain in lock down, the ottawa

police are trying to player identify all of the reports that are spilling around as to whether there are other active gunmen in ottawa. they are maintaining that there are several scenes we front know what things, that's the issue you. are things under control? i would suggest that given that canadian police are not as forth coming as american police typically are, the idea that they are about to hold a press conference suggests that they have some sense of what's going on, they have some control of the situation. however, ottawa police have just leased a statement right now while we are talking where they have said ottawa residents are asked to sty away from the downtown area while the investigation continues if you work in a downtown building follow the instructions of the building management that you are in. rcmp and federal government built are close to the public as is ottawa city hall and all ottawa police stations. ottawa is stkhoupbt at the moment.

we are unclear as to whether this is an active between scened it's been concluded. >> as we wade waite for news conference let's pop up the pictures. they are wait for this royal canadian mounted police to brief the press. a little bit of information just crossed from ottawa police, they put on a statement confirming that the canadian soldier who was shot at the war memorial as in fact died. there was question about that earlier because the information first came from a member of parliament and some question about how trustworthy that could be. now the ottawa police are confirm that go, in fax, a soldier has died. they have also confirmed that a male suspect died, was killed by police inside the center block at the parliament building, a male suspect, the ottawa police say that they have nobody else in custody. but they continue to look for other potential suspects and,

again, as we have been talking with ali velshi, ottawa is on lock down now. here we are four hours since the shooting began and you have members of parliament, members of the media, various staff who are still being ordered to stay in lock down in their locked offices both on parliament hill but also throughout downtown ottawa. and keep in mind there are tholes, em fa embassies, busines and a shopping mall and all asked to stay on lock down and people urged not to go out in the street. so still a time of high anxiety in ottawa. the capital of canada. maria has been watching all of this play out on social media and has some more information. >> david, i want to show you ali was talking about the chateau, pamela is there and earlier she tweeted this out. in lock down in the lobby. in ottawa.

police and guards at all the doors. she's also been tweeting from inside the hotel. messages like chateau blocked off access to windows overlooking parliament hill. and also police wearing bullet proof vests just ran out of the lobby. saying first time in my canadian life that i have been inch as way from numerous police with hands on machine guns. she says even the chefs have been enlist today block the doors. here you can seat police presence here, the armed folks there. as well as christopher, a web developer on lock down remember and he also tweeted out just a second ago this picture. a few more pictures with police

reflected in the buildings across from our office. i want to show you other doors that are locked, a black from parliament hill super easy to avoid windows. i have to hang out in the bag room. this is her cub cubicle area. and you saw the pictures earlier of the parliament caucus putting chairs and benches up on the door. i wonder if you could put the page back up that has the tweets. and ali can underscore comply this is such a big story. >> first time in my canadian life that i have been inches away with from numerous police with hands on machine can guns, that would strike american says as unusual, anybody that has

been to washington, d.c. has seen police like that. this is embedded in canadian culture, that right? >> i would say 80 pearls of americans couldn't tell you the difference between a rival, shotgun, machine gun, they are not that familiar with gun says. we don't see them, we don't see police wearing them. to see that happening, we have seen them in the g20 or which there has been olympics, but it is not a common sight at all to see militarized police like in the united states is very, very uncommon in canada. even in ottawa, because you know where the government, is supreme court, military and parliament is, where all the embassies are, you know there is much more security than in most other places in canada. i was in parliament several months ago for a major events where you would think the security would be higher than it normally is. i have been in to office buildings in new york that felt

like they were under greater guard than they are in ottawa. canada is not a place where you walk around with a sense of men as and insecurity. the capital is not that place i mean with "the stream" with the greatest of love, ottawa is known as a sleepy place, it's a fun assignment for diplomats because it's like a little town, it's a little village and you can be out in what they call cottage country in 15 minutes. the tension associated with terrorism is is not something common to people in on the was, which compliments this even further. it is, however, it may help the police figure out what going on more easily. it would be unusual to see somebody with a gun in ottawa now here is the thing, there have been reports three people have been admitted to a hospital in ottawa. know know who people are dead. the soldier and the gunman. the gunman shot by the sergeant

at arms, there are three other people, one of them is apparently a security guard at parliament who tried to grab the gun from the shooter and was injured in the process. there are two others, two are believed to be in stable condition. that's what we know. we know that there are other shooting scenes, the police are saying the two scenes that they are concerned about were the war memorial where the soldier was shot and the center block of parliament where the gunman was shot down, so those are two important things right now. we have, of course, still waiting to see other detail, but two most important fact we are looking for, david is are there other active shooters, and is there a suspected nexus or connection to terrorism. those are the two important things that we are looking to filed out from the police when they give their report. >> in fact, ali, we believe that they are going to give their report right now, the police are just about to enter the room. and in fact i can see it on my monitor so if you would put the monitor there, we believe this is the ottawa place, royal

canadian mounted police and a representative i believe of the police force that was inside parliament. but let's listen to their news conference, again, an update on the ottawa shootings from ottawa canada. good afternoon. the situation is flew and i had remains ongoing, please be mindful that due to the ongoing situation and investigation, there will be many answers that we will not be able to answer at this time.

i would first like to acknowledge the police chief. to our right commanding officer of rmcp. assistants commission. to his right, major general christopher coats, deputy commander of joints operations command and finally to my far right, mayor of ottawa, jim watson. in terms of proceeding with the press conference, we will first have a statement by ottawa police chief charles bordeleau. >> good afternoon. at 9:52 a.m. this morning, the ottawa police service received multiple 911 calls regarding a shooting at the national war memorial. the victim of the shooting is a mechanic of the canadian armed forces. his injuries were fatal. our thoughts and prayers are with the member, his loved ones, and other members of the forces.

his identity and age won't be confirmed at this time as we are in the process of contacting his family. what followed was another incident on parliament hill. what i can tell you is that a male suspect, is now deceased. together with the rcmp, all available resources have been deployed to this ongoing police operation. our priority is the safety and security of our community. additional resources are on stands by should they be required. and all measures have been take to go insure the safety and security of our residents. we are very aware of the large presence of military personnel in our community and i want them to know that we are committed to their safety. as i said, this is an ongoing operation. we are asking members of the public to stay away from the downtown core. people in the downtown core are asked to follow the instructions of their buildin building's man.

the ottawa police service is looking for witness to his come forward with information regarding the incidents that took place this morning, witnesses can contact our major crime section at (613)236-1222. exception 5493. -- extension 549 lee. and there is an e-mail address for public tips. we continues to communicate and work actively with our partners including those in neighborhood jurisdictions. [ speaking french ] class charles bordeleau, he is speaking in friend. now, the same statement he gave in english in which he said the didn't began at 9:52 this

morning at the war memorial. multi the shots fired, he said a member of canada's armed forces was killed. he said a few minutes later up on parliament hill, which is just a short four-minute drive, a male suspect, went in to that building and was shot at and killed in the course of that exchange of fire. ottawa, as you mentioned, is the home to several military personnel, not only the capital of canada, but also the center of the oremed forces. there was a statement made in english to reassure members of the military that their safety is paramount and the police chief also encouraged everybody to stay away from the downtown core and follow the strucks of building management whenever they are, and here we are, four hours and nearly 30 minutes since the initial shots were fired and all the downtown ottawa including parliament are on lock down, we'll hear next from a member of the of the police, which should give us more information about perhaps

about what transpired inside the main certainty block of parliament. and again it will begin now. >> thank you. next is command being officer of rcmp. >> good afternoon i am assistant commissioner commander officer of the rmcp national division here in ottawa. first our thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones of all of those who are affected by today's events. as you can appreciate, this is a dynamic and unfolding situation. i understand that people have many questions. and we are committed to provide something answers as soon as we are able. but i can tell you, right now is that all available and necessary resources were activated and deployed immediately when we became aware of the incident. we will continue to be here for as long as they are needed.

the ottawa police officer of services leading the investigation for all incidents that have taken place outside parliament hill. the rcmp will conduct the investigation on parliament hill. these are situations that we, as police officers, train for. we train our own members and we train with other police agencies. we conduct scenario-based training to cover off all kind of threats, including what we have seen in ottawa today. it's important for all canadians to be vigilant and report anything they think is suspicious to their local police, so it can be assessed and followed up upon. we are continually assessing and monitoring the situation as we move forward and sharing information with law enforcement and security community in order to insure we have what is necessary to do our jobs and keeping canadians save.

[ speaking french ] >> the assistants commissioner for the royal canadian point mounted police, they are the agency that has jurisdiction over parliament hill not providing much more information other than to underscore that the situation he described it is dynamic and unfolding. he said resources have been activated and deployed. we have now heard two speakers underscore that ottawa's lock down is likely to continue. police have indicated that they are looking for additional suspects, they are not providing any information about who they are looking for or description or anythin any of that just aske public for help both in terms of the investigation to provide any details that any witnesses saw, but also to stay away from the downtown core and try to be patient as the lock down continues. the next speaker is going to be the major general of joint operations, this is the agency that will car nate canada's national response.

we reported earlier that police are checking cars and drying to clerk all traffic leaving ottawa and going in to quebec. that speaker will talk about that operation and perhaps any intelligence that's being shared nationwide, but, again, what's coming out from this news conference is that the operation is fluid. it doesn't sound like the lock down is going to be lift mid time soon. and hopefully, perhaps when they take questions, they might able to describe exactly how long this current situation is going to continue before they will let people out of their buildings and be able to assure people that, in fact, there was just one shooter or they have been able to clearly identify that, yes, there was another shooter that they are looking for and that remains an open question. with that let's turn it back to the news conference with the major general of joint operations will speak next. [ speaking french ]

thank you, major general christopher coats. >> i am major general christopher coats, deputy commander continental at canadian joint operations command. a canadian armed forces member was shot by an unknown person at the national war memorial today. the identity of the member cannot be released for privacy reasons. our thoughts are with the anybody and with his family at this time. we are working closely with our how enforcement partners in response to this ongoing indication. as a precautionary measure and until the situation is considered under control, military and civilian personnel are to remain in their buildings

until further notice. individual with his necessary credentialings are being provided access. we are currently taking precautions a frap rot it to their environment to insecure the safety. personnel. thank you. turk the mayor of ottawa, james watson. >> thank you. today is a sad and tragic day for our cities and our countries. i al sure i speak for all residents of our city when i expends tend my hard felt condolences to the familiar lift individual who lost his life this morning while standing guard at the national war memorial in the heart of downtown ottawa. i also want to convey to those injured today the thoughts of your city and neighbors are with you. [ speaking french ] >> there is no pain greater than losing a lovedded one, to have it happen in such circumstances as this morning is beyond

expression and underlined by sad anger within my heart. but i will not let that anger rule the day. our city, ottawa, the capital of our country, has seen and lived through tragedy in the past. we are doing so again today. a different sort of tragedy, origins as not yet fully known causes not yet fully understood. we all want answers, none more so than me. those answers will come from our dedicated policing forces, the rcmp, ottawa police services and no doubt other forces as we construct this tragic course of hevents. today i your honor all my fellow residents to little of the individual standing on guard at the national war memorial. remember how one person's life has been taken from us, from family, from friends, from the future that was to be his. [ speaking french ]

>> i want to thank the brave men and well, our first responders, rcmp, house of commons security, police, paramedics for their compassion, professionalism, and dedication. athank you. thank you, that concludes the first part of press conference, we'll now be taking questions, i ask that you please identify where you are from and who your question is directed to. secondly, please be mindful there are a lot of questions that cannot be answered at this time. [ speaking french. ] [speaking at the same time] [ speaking french ]

>> hang on a second, one question at a time, please. go ahead. [ inaudible ] from the toronto star. what warning if any did you pick up about the possibility of this incident or did it take everybody by surprise? >> i think it's still to early to confirm that, but i think that from our reaction i think it caught us by surprise. >> reporter: how & how is that possible? >> again it's too early to get to the bottom of all the details of what. >> translator: transpiretranspin ongoing police investigation until we can determine exactly what happened. >> thanwhat happened. >> thank you. ma'am. >> reporter: are there further suspects out there? you go ahead there was more than one suspects earlier? is there still someone on the

loose that has committed a crime here? >> we are still investigating the active operation, we are in the process with the rcmp. clearing parliament hill. what we are asking for the community to continue to be aware and vigilant and report any suspicious activity that they deem serious that could impact their safety. so to phone 911 or to phone or. >> mail us with any information that will assist in the investigation. but also in general terms, we have been asking the community, to remain vigilant over potential acts that we have seen overseas and in other countries. that is something that we have always asked canadians to be aware of and to be constantly individual lent and to report any suspicious activity that may identify any individual that may want to cause harm to fellow canadians. >> is there mourn one gunman? >> we are still in the process of an active operation right now. we are treating this very

seriously with the rcmp in identifying and clearing parliament hill to render it safe. >> imagine, over here, police. [ inaudible ] was the suspects that was killed this morning, was he one of the 90 people identified as being radicalized. >> it's too early to determine that. >> are you going to then be either speaking with or putting those 90 people under surveillance given what happened here today and what happened in quebec earlier this week? >> we basically draw all of our resources towards any threat that exists, and actively investigate those individuals. >> circumstance you behind the camera, is please. [ speaking french ]

>> interesting news on the last question. the question was is there more than one gunman and the ottawa police chief would not say. when asked another way are there still other suspects being. he said they are investigation and securing parliament hill they are asking for the public to report things that look suspicious. let's listen. [ speaking french ] >> they are speaking in friend. police are not providing anymore information about additional suspects and what they are looking for as part of the investigation. >> did the guy have a hunting rifle or shot gun, did he

highjack a car, walk on to the hill, can you give us the chronology of events that you know now? >> what i can tell you is that 9:52 this morning we received a call regarding multiple calls through 911 that there was a shooting at the national war memorial. the sequence of events subsequent to that, there was an incident on parliament hill, we are not in position to confirm the timing or that sequence of events because that is still under investigate. >> have you we proofed a weapon? >> we are not going to comment on that. >> sir over there in the blue. th[ speaking french ] >> again, no information coming from police about the sequence, we believe the queens to be that there was a shooting at the war

memorial and the suspect took a car, stole a car and went up to the parliament, but let's continue to listen. >> no, tha that would be -- at s time a conclusion too early to draw. >> reporter: can you clarify what you mean by -- [ inaudible ] >> basically if it's in our responsibility to protect the public if we would have known that this was coming, we would have been able to disrupt it. >> circumstance over there. [ inaudible ] >> no, not at this time i am sorry. [speaking at the same time] >> reporter: was a threat level raised on parliament hill as we were -- as is suggested in the reports this week? or was parliament hill at a normal level of secure status? has there been a resent elevation of parliament hill threat level? >> the threat level on parliament hill we have been operating at the medium level for the past number of years. and that's the level that we are

operating at right now. >> sir, over there,, please. >> reporter: do you have any idea how someone with a weapon could have gotten onto parliament hill given the security? >> again, that's too soon to be able to comment on that. we'll need to look at the -- all the information that we have in order to determine that. and that will be information that will be able to share at a later date. >> ma'am, in the blue, please, go ahead. >> reporter: earlier you said that this is something the police train for. what type of plans did you have in place in case something like this were to happen? >> well, basically what we are doing right now in order to evacuate a building where potentially there is a threat that exists, and that's what we train for. [speaking at the same time] >> pardon me. >> reporter: can you tell us whether the suspects was a canadian citizen? >> i can't comment on that at this time. >> reporter: why can't you put

out an advisory to say that someone could be armed and dangerous in the community? is that not what this scenario is? is that not the reality that there is still a gunman that is loose? >> we have advised the puck throwing stay away from the downtown core, we have set up a perimeter that prohibits individuals from going onto parliament hill and there is an ongoing operation with the rcmp and our ottawa police service to clear parliament hill to make sure that it is safe for everybody. [speaking at the same time] >> reporter: supplementary your key focus is parliament hill and the immediate neighborhoods around parliament hill; that correct? >> that's correct. [speaking at the same time] >> was it your impression that this guy was up there seeking random targets or did he have a target in mind?

>> that's way to early to be able to determine a motive. >> okay, last question, please, sir over behind the camera. [ speaking french ] thank you very much, this concludes the press conference. thank you. [speaking at the same time] not a lot of information from the officials there at that news conference, they said that the situation is fluid, they have parliament hill an area near ottawa, an area near downtown ottawa on lock down, when asked specifically are there additional suspects, is there more than one gunman, the officials would not say. when asked are you still investigationing the possibility of another gunman, yes, we are still investigating and still

going and clearing and trying to secure par large, which is not an easy process given the number of people who have offices up there. the public in ottawa was urged to stay away from downtown, from buildings near the center block, where parliament is located. that is a picture of the war memorial where police confirm a member of the canadian armed forces was shot and skilled as d killed as he duty. this part of ottawa is on lock down and sounds like it may stay that way no a while because police are unable to say for sure whether there is more than one gunman, they are still investigating it. they are investigating if it was random or an organized threat of the there was an interesting question about whether or not the security services had some advanced warning. apparently there had been some threats over the internet in response to the canadian government revoking the passports of some canadians who

wanted to travel to the middle east to join isil it's not clear whether they took the threats seriously or whether they should have but that came up at the press conference and officials said that, look, we were taken by surprised. if we had gotten any credible specific threat we would have been prepared for it. let's get reaction from ottawa. joining us by phone is professor of terror and international security at carlton university school of international affairs and a former adviser to the united nations. i wonder if you could give us your reaction to what you heard in the news conference? >> i think it's a very typical, in one sense, canadian news conference from the officials. they don't want to say too much. indeed it's been characterized as being quite bland. the central thing they want to get across to both the media and the wider public, is that this stage, the canadian central downtown core is largely under lock down, certainly parliament

does, they are not giving too much away, exempt confirmation two people are dead, one the soldier and the shooter in parliament. this is still a very fluid situation and they are going to be very tight lipped i think until they have further information, which they themselves can confirm. >> is the standard practice in this sort of situation, and again, we are now almost five hours from the initial shots being fired, is the standard practice to try to keep a major city under lock down until police are able to rule out that there was an additional gunman or rule in that there, in fact, was ask that therefore need everybody to stay inside? >> i think they are being justifiably cautious, as they have indicated. nearly all the results this time are focused downtown. parliament in canada is a series of at least three large buildings and there is a few more used by m.p.s which are kind of connected, some of them connected trie through tunnels.

this is a very old building with all sorts of little nooks and crannies, searching it will require extensive resources and take a lot of time. because there are connections from parliament to other areas of downtown, they are thinking the chateau lohr yeah thole, it will be an extensive search and the authorities don't want to confirm anything or say anything until they themselves are quite sure they fully understand the situation. >> part of prekahns a number of events have been canceled, the canadian prime minister steve harper was supposed to have an events with ma la the nobel peace prize winner, hockey game between the senators has been canceled. we have talking with jez little wood a professor, a anybody of our guests have pointed out earlier this week the canadian parliament revoked passports of some 90 canadiens who wanted to

travel to the middle east to join isil. there was an incidents two days ago in which a radicalized member of islam ran over two police and then was shot and killed examine it turned out i had aspirations to go to syria. would you draw a connection between these two events? >> i wouldn't draw a hard connection but all the indicators are pointing in that direction. the events in canada over the last few days involved as you say the hit and run-ins dents in the -- close to montreal. an individual known to the authorities and indeed had had his passport revoked last month i believe. and did will one member of the canadian armed forces was himself later shot. in terms of total irrelevant revocations of passports we have don't have a hard and fast number on that. what we do know is testimony two weeks ago by the commissioner of

the rcmp and the director of canada's security intelligence serve let parliament indicated that there were 90 individuals involved in 63 ongoing national security investigations. tried to those they believe want to travel abroad to commit act of terrorism or have returned from abroad. >> those 90 individuals that came up in a press conference and came up in a question of whether or not officials were surprised whether those individuals were put under police monitoring the response that they were taken by surprise sounds like that will be quite a controversy in canada, would you agree? >> i am not sure it will be. there are legitimate questions, but as the police noted if they would have known about it they would have stopped it and. yes, it is a surprise, we all know from the experience of terrorism across democracy is that you are not going to a able

to stop every single plot or attack, there will be questions there will be clearly no one will be working harder the than the thosethe authorities to word out what went wrong. justifiably they are being quite tight lipped and cautious here because they themselves are not sure that this situation is as yet over. >> indeed. jez littlewood professor at carlton university. to recap in case you are joining us, the police are unable to say in ottawa whether there are more suspects, they are still investigating the situation, they repeatedly described it this morning as fluid. and said it was dynamic and unfolding. they have poured additional resources in to ottawa to check traffic and key potentially anybody there that wants to leave ottawa to go in to quebec they will be able to check them. but, again, they are urging citizens of ottawa to stay inside, to stay in their homes, schools remain on lock down.

public buildings have been told -- people have been told to stay inside. people are being kept in hotels and on parliament hill at the center block where the shooting happened today and almost five hours since the shooting happened people are being styled in their offices. we are going take a quick break and have more on the other side of this you are watching al jazerra america. from 23 - 26 of october at the ritz-carlton doha

welcome back to al jazerra america, i am david shuster in new york. police in ottawa, canada say the situation remains dynamic and unfolding. two people were killed early this morning in a series of shootings, first a suspect opened fire at canada's war memorial near their parliament hill and you are looking at parliament hill there. the certainty block building where, first there is the war memorial you can see the police tape, the police cars there, a mechanic of the canadian military was killed, he was on honor duty there. somebody opened fire on him with some sort of weapon, a rival, perhaps. the suspect allegedly then stole a car and drove it up to parliament hill and in to the center block building where he apparently opened fire to get his way inside. there were something like 30 or 40 shots fired inside. an exchange of gunfire with

security services of course the suspect was killed but police are not sure, not ruling in or out whether or not there is another suspect. there had been reports of shots fired at nearby locations including a hotel nearby and also a mall. and much of that part of ottawa had been on lock down until now. we have a little bit more information now that perhaps police are starting to ease up on their instructions on people in this vicinity of ottawa. maria has been watching this on social media and mas has more. >> you were talking about earlier the hotel laurier in ottawa, pamela has been there all morning and 26 minutes ago she put out this picture saying outside the thole after lock down finally lifted partially. she's saying is that there is will be a partial lifting of lock down in some parts of downtown streets devoid of traffic exempt for cop cars with

flashing lights. earlier you'll remember that she had sent out this picture saying in lock down in lobby at the chateau laurier in ottawa. well, there is a web developer christopher ross that works right near parliament hill as well says just locked at hills times office? sparks street in ottawa. lots of police and heavy equipment. and he also tweeted out this picture some armed officers there with a folding bed. another photo from our lock in the at hills times. now, i tweeted him earlier asking are you still on lock down? just six minutes ago he says i am told that we are still in lock down but the coffee situation is getting rather dire, use something humor there. now downtown ottawa, rob ottawa writing the normally very busy streets in downtown ottawa are baron. looks like a coas ghost town don there. daniel works for a p. pr-fplt

firm, he says it's is surreal to find myself here on a troubling day, here is my vantage point. empty streets. people tweeting from that are offices, offices empty as employees at t.d. tower crowd around tvs and radios. jacob ferguson wrote locked in my parliament office, glad these guys are here. armed officers there and some suvs there, and adam writing office owners in world exchange have locked their doors. we are getting some information that that low laurier the lock down has been partially lifted. because we are seeing some images from pamela insides the hotel tweeting all morning long, but we are getting other information from other buildings in the area. saying that they are still on lock down. also the member of parliament jerry an hour ago saying they

are still in lock down. >> marie huh with some great stuff on social media. thank you. >> thank you. about an hour and a half ago we spoke with leanne good man who was on parliament hill across the street from the certainty block which is the building where the suspect apparently shot his way in and had an exchange of gunfire. that part of parliament hill has also been essentially on lock down for now almost five hours. thanks for joining us begin, you are a reporter with the canadian press, has your situation changed? >> no. we are right across the street from parliament hill and as far as i know we are still in lock down, i guess this is probably the scariest place to be or the place where if there are these phantom other shooters, they might be around here. but i am starting to doubt that there are more than one shooters. it seems that if somebody was still out there we would be hearing about it and everything has been pretty quiet since the shooting on parliament. >> i'll did you get chance to listen or watch the news conference that the officials

just had. >> yes. >> what did you make of it? >> i didn't think they provided much information that isn't already out. the only thing i found sort of newsy was the fact that if they had no advance word of any plan or any blot. which also sort of makes you think it's a lone shooter. usually if there is more than one person involved there is cell phone traffic and all that sort of stuff. yeah, they didn't say much. everything they said in that news conference we had already confirmed via other sources, including the death of the soldier and the death of one of the shooters. >> have you been given any guidance how long it will take them to go door by door office by office to clear the buildings and essentially let all of you out? >> we haven't actually. we have gotten a couple of alerts warning us not to stand by our windows and stay where we are, i haven't seen one yet. there may be one in my in box that i have been seen yet. i haven't seen anything yet telling us everything is clear, sounds like the parliament buildings are secure, they were using battering ram to his get in to locked office offices andt

sound like from what i am hearing over there that everything is secure. but as far as we have been told i am just looking in my in box now, all buildings remain in lock down and we are being told not to leave our current location, but we are right literally across the street parliament hill so that might be why. >> again all that have as a precaution as police trying to figure out whether or not there actually might have been another suspect, multiple reports of shootings at several different locations. leanne, given the geography there and the way that buildings are situated, is it possible that shots fired at the war memorial or shots fired at the entrants to the center block building of parliament could have echoed to some buildings nearby and caused people to mistakingly believe that shots were fired another another location? >> no the third shooting location from what we understand was rumored to be the rideau center which is a shopping mall, but that's been ruled out the rideau certainty tweeted out no, it didn't happen here. it could have been a backfire from a car.

nobody would have been able to hear that from the parliament building. sounds like really only two shooting sight that was the war memorial and a few minutes later inside the parliament buildings seems like it might have been the same guy, all you have to do is run across the street and you are on parliament hill and so it wouldn't have been that difficult or long of a trek. >> leanne good man a report trer the canadian press who row mains barricadeed in her office and under instructions to stay that way at least for now. leanne so good of you to join us and good luck to you this afternoon. we'll check back in with you later and hope you are able to get out soon. >> thank you. let's go to al jazerra's ali velshi who has spent a lot of time in on o ottawa. weigh didn't get 30 answers that you were hoping to get. no indication about motive. they said they were surprised by at tack. your reaction to the news

conference? >> welcome to a canadian police news conference. that's much more typical of can dan in the united states where they try give you as much detail as they can here. back in canada they tell you very little if they do not have certainty about what going off. what tends to happen is the canadian media has to guess about these things but the police tend not to be wrong all that often because they wait until they have all the information. we don't know. you are right i need towards two questions answered first are there multiple shooters and one still at large. and any nexus to terror i terro. the second one will be harder to understand, i am not as certain as certain other people you have spoken to today that it's very clearly about terrorism. the fact that there might be more than one shooter could just mean that it's a bunch of people who are mad at the canadian government. but the bottom line is, there was enough going on there today and enough mystery and enough confusion about what was going on in the vicinity around

parliament hill, to make people wonder. now, you can see the live shots, there is clearly nothing going on in ottawa right now. it is a very easy city to bring to a standstill by virtue of the fact it is a government town and everything who is not working for the government is involved in providing services for the government. so it shutdown, those are only police cars their look agent right now. and it does seem that the early world we got that there was shots fired at the chateau laurier hotel at the rideau center which is the shopping center next to it, don't seem to have taken place. now, whether there were shots fired outside or this is just a case of broken telephone, we are unclear. but at the moment, what the police did seem to imply, if they didn't say it, is that the investigation is ongoing, but it's not clear whether they were looking for anyone else. we do know we have people in the hospital, we know the soldier who was shot at the war memorial has died, we know the first gunman has died.

now the gunman who was shot, this is interesting, you have report third degree and you are seeing tape now of these police looking upward from the post office, but the arm at arms is ladies and gentlemen islargely y are there to eject someone that asked the question the wrong way or to ask someone to stop who called someone a liar, this is interesting case in which the sergeant of arms of the parliament of canada is a 29 year veteran of the royal canadian mounted police is he is a former mount i and he by all reports shot the gunman, but you saw the video, the cell phone video taken earlier inside parliament it looked like they were really ale running after somebody and trying to get that gunman. and it appears that one of the guards was injured, that's the video now that we are looking a1 of the guards was injured in attempting to get the gun from the gunman. so this is -- we don't have answers, we don't know whether this situation has been

concluded and whether ottawa still in danger. >> al jazerra's ali velshi, thank you as always, terrific work our thanks to ali, also maria who has been monitoring developments on associate media and also to leanne good man who is the ca i had in vinnie reporter, canadian press who remains in the -- in parliament hill under lock down, she's not actually in the center block where the shooting took place from the video we just saw but much of parliament hill remained under lock down also thanks to mike viqueira who reports that the obama administration is locking events closely as they unfold in ottawa and supporting the canadian government in their effort to do the investigation. again the canadian officials are not saying at this moment whether or not there is another suspect, they describe the investigation as fluid. they are reporting one person, one member of the canadian armed forces was killed this morning in a shooting at the canadian war memorial. somebody else died and they believe that was the suspect. who was shot when he he treat to storm in through the canadian

parliament building certain cery block. the open question that has people nerve he is at this hour is this part of a coordinated attack. lone gunmen, where is the other gunman, we'll have update throughout the afternoon i am david shuster from new york, thanks for watching al jazerra america.

>> maman bashir alex niev camila karamova di dai jin peng pan sunatillo i am sorry if i pronounced your name wrong. >> it was not a choice for us, for the children to come her